LB 2827 

.02 

1914 



REPORT 



OF THE 



STATE LAND AGENT 

WITH SOME SUGGESTIONS 
AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

1914 




W. J. MARTIN 

State Land Ageni 



REPORT 



OF THE 



/)UW 



STATE LAND AGENT 

COVERING THE PERIOD FROM APRIL 
20th, 191 1, TO DECEMBER 16th, 1914 




With Suggestions and Recommendations for the Better and More 

Profitable Government and Conservation of the Lands 

Belonging to the State of Alabama, and those Lands 

which the State Holds in Trust for Others. 



SUBMITTED TO HIS EXCELLENCY, 
DECEMBER 16,. 1914 



W. J. MARTIN, State Land Agent 
MRS. MARY HUGHES, Stenographer and Clerk. 



• n £ 

/4i + 



PRESS 

BROWN PRINTING CO. 

MONTGOMERY 

ALABAMA 









STATE LAND AGENTS, 1899-1914. 

Appointments made under Act of the Legislature, ap- 
proved February 23, 1899. — General Laws of Ala- 
bama, 1898-1899, pp. 116-117. (Code, 1907- 
892, et seq.) 



Thomas W. DeYampert, of Montgomery, Ala 

Appointed March 3, 1899. 

Term expired Sept. 30, 1901. 

E. H. Lawrence, of Montgomery, Ala 

Appointed October 1, 1901. 

Died November 10, 1901. 

John Richmond McCain, of Lineville, Ala 

Appointed November 16, 1901. 

Term Expired January 15, 1907. 

IIobt. William Manning, of Lineville. Ala 

Appointed January 16, 1907. 

Term Expired January 17, 1911. 

William Joseph Martin, of Stevenson, Ala 

Appointed April 20, 1911. 



ft — ^ 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 



Under the law of 1899, creating the office of 
State Land Agent, a law feeble, incomplete and 
ineffective, those gentlemen who have held the 
position and have been charged with its admin- 
istration, could do nothing determinate or final 
beyond obtaining a grasp of the general situation. 

The results of their labors have been made 
use of to the fullest extent possible, and due 
acknowledgment is made to each of them for 
the work they did, and for blazing the way that 
should lead us into the high road of duty, as 
it concerns and affects State lands, and the in- 
terest of the people in them. 

W. J. Martin, 
State Land Agent. 

Montgomery, Alabama. 
December 25th. 1914. 



^ 



REPORT OF STATE LAND AGENT 



To His Excellency , 

Hon. Emmet O'Neal, 
Governor of Alabama. 

Dear Sir: — I beg to submit herewith report of niy 
acts and doings as State Land Agent from the date of 
my appointment to the present time. 

I was appointed to the office of State Land Agent 
under Section 892 of the Code of 1907, and assumed 
charge of the work on the 20th day of April, 1911. 

Section 892 of the Code, under which a State Land 
Agent may be appointed, is the codification of the Act 
of February 23rd, 1899 : Pamphlet Acts of 1899, page 
116, and provides that: 

"The Governor may employ an agent for the 
purpose of examining into the sale and disposi- 
tion heretofore made of school or other lands be- 
longing to the State, with a view of recovering to 
the State lands which have illegally passed out of 
its possession, and of settling or quieting titles 
now in dispute. The employ of such agent shall be 
at the pleasure of the Governor, who shall discon- 
tinue, suspend, or employ such agent as he may 
consider best for the work in hand." 

At the time that I undertook to discharge the duties 
of the position to which you appointed me, I found the 
lands over which this Department had some control, 
or supervision, and which were supposed to be looked 
after, as provided in the statute, by and through this 



6 REPORT OF THE 

Department, in what might be called a state of serious 
neglect. There were, at that time, standing in the 
name of the State, on the public records, 282,769.85 
acres of Sixteenth Section and Indemnity School 
Lands ; the State records showing affirmatively that 
these lands belonged to the schools of the State. I 
found the record concerning these lands and had de- 
livered to me, as the official equipment of my office, a 
single volume, and this volume contained merely the 
numbers of the land by counties, and described only in 
words and figures. There had been, at no time pre- 
vious to that, any maps or plats of the State lands, 
and there was delivered to me no correspondence nor 
papers, or evidence of pending settlements, or adjust- 
ments of any matters in dispute between the State and 
any persons, whatsoever, claiming to own or occupy 
these lands. 

LANDS CLAIMED BY OTHERS 

Shortly after undertaking this work, it began to ap- 
pear certain to me that a large volume of the lands 
which appeared from the public records to belong to 
the State, were as a matter of fact, in the possession of 
various private and corporate interests of the State, 
and some of the lands were even claimed by persons 
and corporations not residing or domiciled in the State 
of Alabama. , 

My first efforts, therefore, were directed along the 
line of ascertaining what lands claimed by the State as 
belonging to it, and shown on the record as such, were, 
as a matter of fact, owned by the State, and what, if 
any, that were shown to belong to the State were in 
truth the property of the various claimants of them. 
1 found that the lands shown to belong to the State 



STATE LAND AGENT 7 

and claimed by other parties were divided, or might 
be classified, under two or three, perhaps more, head- 
ings or classifications. That is : 

Frst. Lands that had been sold by the State and 
paid for by the purchaser, and for some reason never 
patented. 

Second. Lands that had been sold by the State, 
partly paid for, the purchaser put into possession, and 
the remaining portion of the purchase money not paid. 

Third. Lands that had never been sold by the State, 
but had gone into the possession of private or corpor- 
ate interests, and had remained in the actual posses 
sion of these interests for varying periods of time. 

HISTORY OF SUIT TO TEST STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS 

111 the beginning I was possessed of a theory with 
reference to adverse possession as it affected the State's 
property in these lands. In other words, I doubted the 
proposition as to the Statute of Limitations operating 
to divest title out of the State of Alabama where it 
held these lands in trust for the inhabitants of the va- 
rious townships, and vest it in the occupant of the prop- 
erty, whatever length of time might have been covered 
by his occupancy. I doubted this upon the theory: — 

First. That if the lands had remained the property 
of the United States, the Statute of Limitations would 
not have operated to divest title out of the United 
Statees, and vest it in the occupant. 

Second. The grant of these lands was made by the 
United States to the State of Alabama for a certain and 
specific use, viz: for the education of the boys and girls 
of the various townships where the lands lie: and 

Third. Under no law, either Federal or State, could 
these lands have 1 been sold or disposed of without the 



8 REPORT OF THE 

consent of a majority of the legal voters in the town- 
ships where they lie: 

and I doubted that adverse possession of them would 
confer title, because the State being powerless to enact 
a statute whereby disposition of this land could be 
made without the consent of a majority of the legal 
voters, I believed that it was in like manner powerless 
to make a statute, which by neglect, lapse of time, or 
indirection, could accomplish, or under the operation 
of which there might be accomplished, that which could 
not be directly done. 

Following up this theory, and with the ultimate ob- 
ject in view of settling the question as to whether or 
not the Statute of Limitations did operate to divest 
title out of the State without the consent of the citizens 
of the township where the land lies, (and it might be re- 
marked at this point, that there was a divergence of 
opinion among the best and most learned lawyers of 
the State), an action was brought by Hon. Robt. C. 
Brickell, Attorney General, and Hon. R. B. Evins, of 
Greensboro, Alabama, under special arrangement by 
your Excellency, in the City Court of Talladega, in 
1912, against Miss Sudie Schmidt on an agreed state- 
ment of facts, which statement of facts was as follows, 
to-wit : 

STATEMENT OF FACTS 

"It is agreed that defendant and those under 
whom she claims and from whom she has received 
legal conveyance have been in actual, open, notori- 
ous and continuous possession of the lands describ- 
ed, to-wit : the S % of the S. W. 14 of Section 16, 
Township 17, Range 5, Talladega county, Alabama, 
under color of title and under claim of purchase 



STATE LAND AGENT 9 

since to-wit, the 1st day of January, 1870, and that 
such defendant and those under whom she claims 
have been in such actual, open, notorious and con- 
tinuous possession of said property, for more than 
twenty years prior to the adoption of the Code of 
1907, such as to amount to legal adverse-posses- 
sion, provided legal adverse possession could be ac- 
quired against the State of such property. 

It is further agreed that said land is part of the 
Sixteenth Section School lands given to the State 
of Alabama in trust by the United States for school 
purposes by the Act of Congress approved March 
2, 1819, admitting said State into the Union. It 
is further agreed that the title to said property is 
in the State of Alabama in trust by virtue of said 
grant of the United States, provided the defendant 
has not acquired title by adverse possession, such 
adverse holding being hereby admitted, if the stat- 
utes under which it is claimed are valid statutes. 
It is further agreed that no claim for damages 
shall be made. It is further agreed that the Code 
of 1886 went into effect and became operative on 
December 25, 1887, and that the Code of 1907 went 
into effect and became operative on the 1st day of 
May, 1908. It is further agreed that the defend- 
ant withdraws her demand for a trial by jury in 
this cause, and that the same can be submitted to 
the judge on this agreed statement of facts." 

QUESTION FAIRLY UP TO THE COURT 

This put the question as to the operation of the Stat- 
ute of Limitations squarely up to the Court for its de- 
termination, and it was decided adversely to the State. 
An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of Alabama, 



10 REPORT OF THE 

and the decision of the City Court of Talladega was 
affirmed. The Federal question being injected into the 
case at its beginning permitted it to be carried to the 
Supreme Court of the United States. A writ of error 
was granted by Justice Dowdell for that purpose, and 
it was carried there and decided at the October term, 
1913 ; the decision being an affirmance of the decision 
of the Supreme Court of Alabama, thereby validating 
the Statute of Limitations of the State of Alabama as 
affecting these titles; the Statute being twenty years. 

WHAT LANDS AFFECTED BY THE DECISION 

This question being then determined finally, it next 
became important to ascertain as to what portion of the 
lands that were being claimed by private and corporate 
interests, had been claimed for more than twentv years ; 
that is, for more than twenty years prior to May 1st, 
1908, because the Statute of Limitations, since the 
adoption of the Code of 1907, which went into effect on 
May 1st, 1908, has ceased to operate against the State 
or to affect these lands, and any possession that had not 
ripened into title prior to May 1st, 1908, by reason of 
twenty years previous possession, could not after that 
date be completed. 

I found that a great deal of land which was, and is 
being claimed by various private and corporate inter- 
ests throughout the State, had not been claimed in such 
way, nor for such length of time as would establish in 
such claimant title, and this for the following reasons: 

First. The time during which the claim had been 
exercised had not been of sufficient length, or less than 
twenty years prior to May 1st, 1908. 

Second. The possession, such as was claimed, had 
been long enough, that is, twenty years, but had been 



STATE LAND AGENT 11 

of a kind not sufficient and not recognized in the law as 
being open, notorious, and for that reason, adverse. 

Third. The land about which the controversy some- 
times centred being wholly unimproved land, and the 
claimant merely paying tax on it, sometimes omitting 
to pay that, and making no public declaration what- 
every on the public records of the county where the 
lands lie, nor otherwise, as to his claim of ownership, 
could not claim to have been in the open, adverse pos- 
session of it. 

CLASSIFICATION AS TO CLAIMS 

The proposition then confronting this office was a 
further separation, as best it could be done with the 
means at hand, of the lands which were being claimed 
validly, openly, notoriously and adversely, but for an 
insufficient length of time, from those which were being 
so claimed and for a sufficient length of time to confer 
title. And also to separate those lands which were 
being claimed, but being claimed in such way as not 
to constitute adverse possession against the State, al- 
though the time had been of sufficient duration, from 
the lands that had been openly and adversely claimed 
twenty years prior to May 1st, 1908. This entailed no 
little effort, and even required an actual visit to the 
neighborhood where the lands lie, and a consultation 
personally with the persons claiming them, and with 
other persons who knew the facts and circumstances in 
the case, the length of time covered by the claim, when 
and how it originated, and all the facts that were' ma- 
terial. 

DETAILED INFORMATION AND HOW OBTAINED 

There being at my disposal no sufficient fund for 
these personal visits and inquiries, they were made 



12 REPORT OF THE 

much more infrequent than should have been done, and 
the results so far obtained have been both inadequate 
and unsatisfactory, as a whole. A great volume of cor- 
respondence has been carried on with reference to these 
claims, and for the purpose of getting at a basis from 
which to work, I early undertook to, and did, with the 
exception of Jefferson, Limestone, Russell and Shelby 
counties, obtain a list of the township and district 
school trustees, and other public spirited citizens living 
in the neighborhood of these lands, together with their 
postoffice addresses, and this list of names and address- 
es is upon record in a volume which I have added to the 
records of this office. These men are, to large extent, 
and as much so as might be expected, disinterested. 
They are recommended to me as being fair-minded men 
who seek nothing but the establishment of justice with 
reference to these matters. I have addressed commu- 
nications to all of them and have had rather extensive 
correspondence with some of them in regard to these 
lands, and the manner in which they have been locally 
treated; and where claims have arisen with reference 
to them, I have availed myself of the opportunity of ad- 
dressing correspondence to these men, or such of them 
as were within reach of the property involved, and have 
obtained from them valuable information. I have some- 
times obtained from them the names of other persons 
Avho knew the facts with reference to these lands, and 
have written such other persons and obtained from 
them the information required. 

MADE PLATS OF ALL THE LANDS 

In 1912 I compiled a series of plats showing the loca- 
tion of all the lands that were being looked after by this 
Department. These plats were bound into nine separate 



STATE LAND AGENT 13 

volumes and these constitute part of the permanent rec- 
ords of this office. On the margins of these plats I 
have added from time to time such data as has been 
obtained. The correspondence with reference to all 
these lands has been kept by counties in box files. The 
original letters from each county, together with copies 
of every letter written to any person in each county, re- 
garding these lands, or any of them, are permanently 
kept in these files. 

MAP OF THE STATE 

In addition to the plats referred to, I drew a map 
showing the outlines, or boundary lines, of the State, 
the base lines and the meridians, each township line 
and each range line. Within these townships I have 
placed the number of acres of unpatented land, and 
have placed upon the margin of the map a note in which 
it is stated that the numbers and descriptions, and 
other data, such as has been obtained, will be furnish- 
ed to any applicant therefor, free of charge. I have 
tried to furnish these maps to as many of the directly in- 
terested people as I could, but there being no fund 
available with which to have them printed, I have been 
unable to get them into the hands of all those who 
ought to have them and who could make valuable use 
of them. 

LACK OF INFORMATION AND INTEREST 

I found, among other things, when I undertook this 
work, and more and more did I have it emphasized on 
my mind for the first two years, that there was a lack 
of information on the subject generally of the State's 
lands in the minds of the people. I therefore had no 
cooperation on the part of the people, who are really the 



14 REPORT OF THE 

owners of the property, and sometimes I found very lit- 
tle cooperation on the part of the local officials. 

It has been necessary, therefore, not only to get such 
records as could be had with reference to this property, 
but to make use of them in such way as to create a sen- 
timent among the people favorable to the conservation 
of the property; and 1 might say here, that for more 
than two generation the land about which I am report- 
ing to you, has been handled in such way by the author- 
ities themselves, and the people near where it is situat- 
ed, as to constitute little less than a state- wide disgrace. 

TIMBER GONE 

Of all the land owned or held in trust by the State 
for the schools, less than 1,000 acres has its original 
growth of virgin timber. 

There has never been any authority to sell the timber 
off the land ; such sales as were made were without au- 
thority and the money obtained from them was gener- 
ally inadequate in amount, usually made by the local 
authorities, and such sum as was paid by the person who 
cut the timber, was reported to the State authorities 
and paid into the Treasury, but was used locally, often 
unwisely, and always without legal authority. In other 
cases the timber was cut by depredators and nothing 
was paid for it ; or the land was improperly and illegal- 
ly claimed by some one who sold the timber and ap- 
propriated the proceeds. 

NEGLECT 

The State, as truster, was not awake to these trans- 
actions involving the trust property; no investigations 
were made; no prosecution of suits, civil or criminal, 
and no recovery for the waste and loss was ever had, 
except in extremely rare cases. 



STATE LAND AGENT 15 

CITES CRIMINAL CODE 

Section 7830 of the Criminal Code of 1907 provides 
that: 

"Any person who knowingly and willfully en- 
ters upon the lands of the State and cuts any tim- 
ber, or cultivates such land, or otherwise appro- 
priates the same to any private use without lawful 
authority, must, on conviction, be fined not less 
than one hundred dollars, and may also be impris- 
oned in the county jail for not more than thirty 
days; and this section must be given in special 
charge to the grand juries." 

PRESUMPTION AS TO DISCHARGE OF DUTY 

Acting on the presumption, which is recognized in 
the law, that every official charged Avith a public duty 
has performed it, it may be assumed that upon the or- 
ganization of each grand jury in this State, it was spec- 
ially charged with reference to the above statute, or that 
the above statute was specially pointed out to such 
grand jury. This then being done, the fact that the 
grand juries did not indict for such depredations, im- 
proper and illegal uses, and waste, such as was being 
committed on these lands, did not reflect a healthy-sen- 
timent favorable to their conservation in the several 
localities Avhere they lie, and emphasizes more and more 
the importance of renewed activity and increased vig- 
ilance on the part of the State. 

CHANGE OF SENTIMENT 

It is gratifying, however, to report that within the 
past year a change of sentiment, so to speak, lias be- 
come noticeable in most sections of the State. What 
was at first but little less than open opposition, and in 



16 REPORT OF THE 

nearly all cases absolute indifference, has developed 
into something near cooperation on the part of a great 
many of the leading men in each locality where the 
State owns lands. Information that was withheld at 
first, has lately been obtainable, and the people, coming 
into a realization of the fact that they are the real own- 
ers of these lands, are now, in many instances, willing 
to lend suitable aid and cooperation in taking care of 
them. Often the people who claim some interest in 
the land, or are in possession of it on one ground or 
another, submit their claims, admit no title, and want 
an adjustment by paying what is right and just. 

This change of sentiment was brought about largely 
by means of a voluminous correspondence carried on 
with these people, in which it was attempted to show 
and set forth the State's position, and the relation, that 
by neglect, had been permitted to be established be- 
tween the State and many of them. 

TIME INSUFFICIENT 

The records could not, however, be gotten into such 
condition and the interest of the State sufficiently well 
defined, within the time I have had, to bring about this 
result early enough to permit of getting far into the 
actual settlement of these cases. 

There have been, mostly within the past year, 329 ap- 
plications for patents filed. These cover 38,862 acres 
of land. Forty-three cases have been disposed of cov- 
ering 7,180 acres of land, and for this there was col- 
lected and paid into the Treasury $13,194.85. Two 
hundred and eighty-six cases are pending now, in 
which 31,682 acres are involved, and these will later be 
disposed of at some profit to the State, but as the Board 
of Compromise fixes the sum to be paid, if any, it can- 
not be said how much will be realized. 



STATE LAND AGENT 17 

Since the beginning of this administration seven suits 
have been filed for the recovery of land, and ninety-one 
suits have been filed for trespass upon lands. This lit- 
igation is in the hands of the Attorney General and 
Hon. R. B. Evins, Greensboro, Alabama, but I am not 
advised as to the present status. 

LANDS IN DISPUTE 

There are, as best I have been able to determine, 116,- 
319.25 acres of these lands in dispute as between the 
State and some occupant. There is on file in this office 
the name and address of every person claiming this 
land, together with a description of the land claimed 
by each ; and much valuable data concerning the claims. 
Much of this land will be recovered by the State and 
the title cleared up. Where there exist rights favorable 
to the occupant, titles, or claims, will be compromised 
upon the payment of suitable sums, and still other land 
will no doubt be patented upon payment of the patent 
fee, but it is none the less important to adjust these 
matters, and clear the records of these claims, remov- 
ing all uncertainty and doubt affecting these titles, but 
at this time it cannot be ascertained how much land 
will be recovered, nor how much money will be col- 
lected, because these rights are not established. 

LANDS NOT IN DISPUTE 

There are, as near as I have been able to ascertain, 
134,763.60 acres of land, owned by the State, about 
which there is no dispute as to title ; 118,000 acres of this 
is in the Sixteenth Sections, and 16,768.60 acres are In- 
demnity Lands, or lands in lieu of Sixteenth Section 
lands, and all, alike, school lands. 

These lands are located in the various counties of 
the State as follows: 



18 



REPORT OF THE 



Unpatented Sixteenth Section Land. 



County Acres. 

Autauga 2,63468 

Baldwin 2,384.57 

Barbour 7,198 

Bibb 2,600 

Blount 960 

Bullock 4,320 

Butler 1,800 

Calhoun 1,680 

Chambers 1,680 

Cherokee 1,840 

Chilton 3,760 

Choctaw 5,059 

Clarke 9,772 

Clay 4,522 

Cleburne 2,280 

Colbert 2,040 

Conecuh 3,160 

Coosa 2,200 

Covington 2,000 

Crenshaw 1,680 

Cullman 1,400 

Dale 2,120 

Dallas 6,600 

DeKalb 1,600 

Elmore 2,320 

Escambia 5,360 

Etowah 2,040 

Payette 3,640 

Franklin 1,760 

Geneva 3,783 

Greene 3,161 

Hale 2,520 

Benry 5,600 

Houston 4,680 



Cou nl y Acres. 

Jackson 6,280 

Jefferson 4,680 

Lamar 1,360 

Lauderdale 4,240 

Lawrence 8,952 

Lee 1,200 

Limestone 4,720 

Lowndes 5,420 

Macon 4,000 

Madison 4,525 

Marengo 7,360 

Marion 1,360 

Marshall 2,720 

Mobile 23,080 

Monroe 3,280 

Montgomery 4,800 

Morgan 3,560 

Perry 4,640 

Pickens 4,760 

Pike 2,720 

Randolph 2,760 

Russell 3,440 

St. Clair 4,160 

Shelby 5,600 

Sumter 5,120 

Talladega 5,120 

Tallapoosa 3,240 

Tuscaloosa 7,058 

Walker 2,880 

Washington 3,496 

Wilcox 6,956 

Winston 2,360 



Total Acres 266,001.25 



STATE LAND AGENT 19 

Indemnity Land. 

The Indemnity Lands are located in the following 
counties, as follows: 

DeKalb County 440 Acres 

Etowah County 160 Acres 

Fayette County 1,920 Acres 

Jefferson County 3,928.60 Acres 

Marion County 600 Acres 

St. Clair County 40 Acres 

Tuscaloosa County 1,840 Acres 

Walker County 5,760 Acres 

Winston County 2,080 Acres 

Total 16,768.60 Acres 

BY ADJUSTMENT OF TITLES, SOME LAND NOW CLAIMED 

BY THE STATE WILL BE FOUND TO BELONG TO 

THE PEOPLE 

There is much of the Sixteenth Section land forming- 
part of the 116,319.25 acres that the State will finally 
be shown to have no interest in, either because it was 
sold and paid for, and not patented, due to carelessness 
or neglect, or for the reason that long continued posses- 
sion of it has defeated the State's title. 

None of the Indemnity Land is in dispute so far as I 
am advised. 

ISLANDS 

The State owns all the islands in all the navigable 
waters of the State formed since May 2nd, 1819, and I 
have tried to obtain information in regard to them. 
Photolithographic copies of the surveys including, or 
covering, their location, have been secured from the 



20 REPORT OF THE 

General Land Office, Washington, 1). C, but having no 
fund available for the expense of such an expedition, 
I have been unable to locate and plat them. They are 
of great value, and require attention, as some of them 
are in cultivation, but no rents are being collected. 

CLAIMS SETTLED 

Since I undertook this work, the title to much land 
has been settled favorably to the State. This has been 
done by securing the admission of the persons in pos- 
session and claiming the land, that they had no title, 
and securing recognition of the State's title. Many 
matters of this kind are now in process of adjustment 
and it is hoped that they will result similarly. 

LANDS IN CULTIVATION 

Much of the land owned by the State is in cultiva- 
tion. In many cases, only small tracts ; in many other 
cases, large ones. These have been put into a state of 
cultivation after the timber was cut away, as previous- 
ly referred to, sometimes under some sort of claim of 
ownership, but more often because no one seemed to 
care, and so far has not disturbed. 

Should the rents be collected on these lands annual- 
ly, and directed into proper channels, they would add 
no inconsiderable sum to the school revenue. 

PARTIAL RESULT OF WORK DONE 

During this administration there has been collect- 
ed from such lands as have been sold, from compromises 
of old claims against land, from the collection of old 
notes due for lands, and the adjustment of other forms 
of claims involving lands, all of this class, f 139,259.92, 



STATE LAND AGENT 21 

which has been paid into the Treasury, as required by 
law. 

Adjustment has been made in many other cases, but 
before payments agreed upon were made, the financial 
condition of the country became tense, money matters 
and markets unsatisfactory, and the parties have de- 
layed payments. These will be taken care of later. 

COAL 

Of the 16,768.60 acres of Indemnity Lands, now own- 
ed by the State, as well as some other that will here- 
after be acquired, much is valuable for coal mining. 
The prevailing market price of such land does not com- 
pare Avith the income to be derived from it when leased 
on a royalty basis. This should be done, care being had 
to lease only to people who are responsible and able 
to operate mines upon it. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

It is, perhaps, permissible at this point to direct at- 
tention to the fact that the Act of 1899 creating this 
office, while it was the first expression of our law- 
makers on the subject and forms the basis of the pres- 
ent Code provisions relating to this subject, it is in- 
complete and falls far short of affording the means for 
obtaining the relief which it certainly must have been 
the intention of the Legislature to afford. Under this 
law there are so many omissions, and such a total lack 
of needed authority, that it would be easier to omit 
these and direct attention to the good features only — 
and in doing this the most that can be said is that it 
was a start towards doing what had been almost wholly 
neglected for three generations. 



22 REPORT OF THE 

All that has so far been done has been done under, 
or because of, this enactment, but in many instances, re- 
gard has been necessarily had to the spirit of the law, 
rather than to its letter. 

In view of the work which I have done along these 
lines, the experience gained, the familiarity with gen- 
eral and particular conditions relative to the lands of 
the State which has been obtained, I may be permitted 
to make certain suggestions, or recommendations, in ref- 
erence to their future. 

If so, I will predicate these by saying that no reputa- 
ble private, or semi-public institution, could afford and 
perhaps, never did, accept a trust of such magnificent 
proportions, and surrounded by such sacred obliga- 
tions ; and refusing to resign its trusteeship, suffer such 
loss of the trust estate, as may be found in this instance. 

There is yet time and opportunity to repair much of 
this, but legislation is needed; in the absence of Avhich 
the State might better afford to repudiate the trust, let 
the lands be reconveyed to the United States, and open- 
ed up for sale by it, or made subject to entry under the 
Homestead laws of the Nation. 

But we cannot do this after nearly a hundred years 
of use or abuse. Then we should legislate so as to bring 
these matters abreast of the times, and put them upon 
a footing equally as creditable as the other affairs of 
the State. 

In this connection, for the reasons referred to, permit 
me to suggest an Act reforming the laws of the State 
relating to its lands generally, and these trust lands 
particularly, putting then into a separate and independ- 
ent department, referring to that department the rec- 
ords relating thereto, paying tl^e head of that depart- 
ment a sufficient salary, and allowing sufficient expense 
account to enable him to investigate, or have investigat- 



STATE LAND AGENT 23 

ed, all matters relating to these lands as may come to 
his knowledge, or such as he may be able to develop. 
This to include the asserting title and the colled ion of 
rents and royalties in all proper cases. 

This legislation should extend to the islands of the 
State, and provide for their management and sale, and 
should be broad enough to permit the person in charge 
of these matters to employ engineers, or surveyors to 
establish lines and mark boundaries, and obtain evi- 
dence in any worthy case. 

Man}' definite and beneficent results could be obtain- 
ed for the benefit of this Department, and wholly with- 
out cost to the State, by an amendment to the law es- 
tablishing the Department of Game and Fish. 

While wholly separate and distinct Departments, 
there might be a certain amount of cooperation between 
them, and this cooperation would result in greater ben- 
efits to both, and thereby enable both to become greater 
agencies for good to the entire State. 

In this behalf I would suggest that the law be so 
amended as to cause all the lands of the State, or the 
lands over which the State owns control, or which it 
holds in trust, to be made game refuges, and upon which 
no hunting would be allowed. 

This w T ould afford a small tract of land only in most 
of the neighborhood, where birds and game could find 
a resting and nesting place, and would have the addi- 
tional advantage of being under the watchful eye of 
the Game Wardens, whose duty it would be to report 
any trespass as to cutting timber, or farming upon 
them, direct to this office. By this means, and without 
expense to the State, information would always be ob- 
tainable, and it would moreover soon be known that 
the State had in each county some one to take care of 
these interests. The effect is apparent. 



24 REPORT OF THE 

Suitable provision should be made for the trial of 
cases in which the defense would raise the question of 
the State's title to the land. Such cases should not be 
tried outside of a court of record, nor without suitable 
notice being given the land department. 

There are pending some matters which will more than 
likely be settled before the end of the term, but the fore- 
going covers practically all, briefly stated, that I have 
done, have tried to do, and have under way, since my 
appointment by you, affecting these school lands. 

SALT LANDS 

The Salt Lands of the State, which comprise 3,176.81 
acres, are located in five separate sections: being all of 
Sections 21, 22 and 27 in Township 7 North, Range 3 
East, and Sections 21 and 28 in Township 7 North, 
Range 2 East, Clarke County. 

These lands were granted to the State of Alabama, 
in trust for the people of the State, under Section Six 
of the Act of Congress approved March 2nd, 1819. Cer- 
tification in due form was obtained from the Secretary 
of the Interior, Washington, D. C, and filed in this 
office January 9th, 1912. 

These lands are adjacent to and near the Tombigbee 
River, and their early uses are closely linked with the 
first settlement made in that part of the State. Indeed, 
prior to the arrival of the white man, the Indians had 
made practical use of the salt springs, and from them 
had obtained practically all the salt used in the vari- 
ous Nations that lay within their reach. 

During our Civil War the salt making at the springs 
on these lands was increased to meet the needs of most 
of the Southern States. Hundred of flowing wells were 
sunk over Avider areas of the lands, and increased quan- 



STATE LAND AGENT 25 

tities of water were obtained. Hundreds of men found 
employment in the evaporation of this water, which was 
done by boiling it in large kettles, by Avhich process crys- 
tallization took place, and the salt was ready to dis- 
tribute to those within reach of it. 

Frequent legislation was had at the hands of our Leg- 
islature, during those years of the war, by which it was 
sought to protect the property, to promote the making 
of salt and to prevent a monopoly in it. A limitation was 
fixed above which the price should not go. Other legis- 
lation has since been had, but the making of salt there 
for any purpose has long ago ceased. The springs flow 
on, as ever ; many of the wells are flowing, just as they 
did when salt was being made for the soldiers in the 
camp, or for their wives and children in their ruined 
homes, but the price of salt being low, and the world at 
large being able to obtain it for less, perhaps, than 
would be the cost of making it there, as was once done, 
the industry has fallen into decay, and the implements 
of its former manufacture have gone into disuse. 

The present effective laws relating to these lands are 
efmbraced in Sections 883 to 887, Code of 1907. On 
August 8th, 1911, I was directed by you to look after 
the salt springs and salt lands under authority of the 
law above referred to, and undertook then, and have 
since to the best of my ability tried to carry out and con- 
form to the instructions thus given. 

I found that some of the timber had been cut from 
portions of these lands and carried away, but so long 
ago that no recovery could be had. There is, however, 
at this time, upon some of this land, timber of consid- 
erable value, and various offers to buy it have been made, 
but the State is without legal authority to sell it. Neith- 
er has the State authority to sell the land. 



26 REPORT OF THE 

The most valuable property in this land is, perhaps, 
the cement rock, clay and shale. It has been reported 
upon at various times by Dr. Eugene A. Smith, State 
Geologist, and an attempt by me to direct further atten- 
tion to it and its immense value would be both useless 
and unnecessary. It is, perhaps, proper to say that the 
favorable location of this wealth of cement-making ma- 
terial with reference to cheap water transportation to 
Mobile, and thence to the markets of the world, coupled 
to the fact that coal for fuel purposes can be obtained 
from other lands owned by the State and carried down 
the river from the mines to a plant located on these 
lands, makes it one of the best locations for an industry 
of this kind to be found anywhere. Negotiation looking 
to the building of a plant of this kind were well undei 
way prior to the unsettled business conditions resulting 
from the European War. It is hoped that they can and 
will be re-opened. 

Section 884 of the Code of 1907 provides for leasing 
these lands for a term of ten years for the purpose to 
which reference is made. In view of the magnitude of 
an industry of this kind, I recommend that Section SS4 
of the Code of 1907 be amended so that these lands may 
be leased for the purposes indicated for a term not ex- 
ceeding twenty years. I favor suitable action to obtain 
amendment to the Act of Congress granting these lands, 
by which it w T ould be permissible to cut certain of the 
timber, and this for the reason that the timber referred 
to has reached the limit of its natural growth. It is 
better and worth more now, aside from the generally 
poor market conditions, which we trust will not con- 
tinue, than it will be later. It has commenced, and will 
continue to deteriorate, to decay and to die. Its value 
will then be wholly gone; to postpone action is waste, 



STATE LAND AGENT 27 

and means ultimate loss to the State of several thou- 
sand dollars. 

Some portions of this land has no timber on it and is 
good farming land. It is well adapted to the grow- 
ing of most crops with which we are familiar ; to cattle 
raising and stock farming generally. 

While perhaps it is beyond the scope of my employ- 
ment, as required by the letter of the law, to make the 
following recommendation, I deem it permissible to 
offer any suggestion that experience and observation has 
enabled me to find probably worth while; and more es- 
pecially so if another of our institutions, at present 
burdensome, can be made in a larger degree self-sus- 
taining. 

I, therefore, respectfully beg to call your attention 
to the possibilities for good that lie in placing a num- 
ber of the larger boys in our Industrial School at East 
Lake, especially those who might be so inclined, under 
proper agricultural teaching, on these lands to fence 
and farm them. The boys would be benefitted person- 
ally, developed and built up physically, many of them 
would see growing crops for the first time, and would 
learn, while being educated and corrected, as the State 
is now undertaking to do, practical lessons in produc- 
tion, by the means of which they would become inde- 
pendent men and worthy citizens. Their horizon would 
be broadened, and they would learn from Nature that 
which is now denied them. They should, moreover, 
under proper management, not only pay for their own 
upkeep, but lend great assistance towards the support 
of those who would not be required at the farm, or 
would be too small to work to advantage. They should 
be taught all the arts of farming, cattle and stock rais- 
ing, including the canning of all manner of fruits and 
vegetables for winter use. 



28 REPORT OF THE 

By the adoption of this plan, and it could be done 
at small cost, the present heavy burden on the State, 
for the support of this worthy institution, would be 
greatly lessened, and the boys who are now shut in, in 
comparatively small quarters, and employed along 
practically non-productive lines, would be used to ad- 
vantage. They would become, at once, producers rath- 
er than consumers. 

The State has the land and it has the boys. It oc- 
curs to me that it would be but the part of wisdom to 
use both in such way that each would be benefitted. 

In concluding this report I desire to extend thanks 
to Dr. Thos. M. Owen, Director of the Department of 
Archives and History, for his cooperation and assist 
ance in matters relating to the early records concerning 
the State's lands, and for delivery by him to the De- 
partment of a vast amount of old certificates, receipts 
and papers relative to the original sales of much of this 
property — some of these dating back as early as 1828 — 
and for the delivery also of old volumes of original en 
try showing the early disposition and management of 
much of these lands; these old documents and records 
having gone into disuse and were stored in his depart- 
ment. By the systematic arrangement of these since 
they were added to the records of this office, it has fre- 
quently been possible to determine with certainty the 
status of titles that otherwise would have forever re- 
mained in doubt. 

Thanks are also rendered to the heads of all other De- 
partments with whom I have come in contact, while en- 
gaged in this work, for their sympathy, assistance, and 
cooperation. 

I desire, furthermore, to extend to your Excellency, 
thanks for the cooperation and assistance which has 



STATE LAND AGENT 29 

been given to the fullest extent permissible under the 
law as it now is, for office equipment, including files, 
and for office assistance in the form of stenographic 
help. The person occupying this position for more than 
a year past being Mrs. Mary Hughes, who not only dis 
charged the duties of stenographer, but becoming famil- 
iar with the work of the office, has rendered most valu- 
able service as clerk. 

And now, deeply grateful to you for your confidence, 
and the trust reposed, I am, 

Your obedient servant, 

W. J. Martin, 
State Land Agent. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 324 641 



